Murry McMurray, Delawares, and meat bird quality

Have you contacted McMurray about your funny looking Delawares? They are so reasonable I would think they would be more than happy to fix the issue, or at the least give you a credit.

mariacp said:

Have you contacted McMurray about your funny looking Delawares? They are so reasonable I would think they would be more than happy to fix the issue, or at the least give you a credit.

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I don't think they'll reimburse you for birds bought from Meyers .

SpringPeeper said:

I don't think they'll reimburse you for birds bought from Meyers .

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Lol i dont suppose they will. I totally misread the Meyers part. It was late, I blame lack of sleep.

Biddiquack said:

I originally ordered Delaware chicks from McMurry hatchery. They were growing into nice large birds.; correct feathering, combs, etc. Right before they were old enough to lay all but one disappeared. (But that's another story.) Now we have erected Fort Delaware complete with gate locks, electric fence, and covered runs, and I ordered Delawares from Meyer hatchery. They are now 3 months old - two roos and 8 hens. The hens all have pea combs, barring around their necks, and dusty or yellowish colored feathers mixed in with white body feathers, so I' m thinking something's amiss.
Hard lessons learned; but now that we have the fort I will try to get chicks from Whitmore or Sand Hill this spring.

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Hmm... I'm not sure about the pea combs, but otherwise they sound like Indian Rivers to me.

Moondazzle said:

Hmm... I'm not sure about the pea combs, but otherwise they sound like Indian Rivers to me.

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Sounds like they are Columbian Wyandottes, although true Columbian Wyandottes do not usually have reddish looking feathers. I have seen a lot of missed marked hatchery birds especially from a hatchery in Texas.

Biddiquack said:

I originally ordered Delaware chicks from McMurry hatchery. They were growing into nice large birds.; correct feathering, combs, etc. Right before they were old enough to lay all but one disappeared. (But that's another story.) Now we have erected Fort Delaware complete with gate locks, electric fence, and covered runs, and I ordered Delawares from Meyer hatchery. They are now 3 months old - two roos and 8 hens. The hens all have pea combs, barring around their necks, and dusty or yellowish colored feathers mixed in with white body feathers, so I' m thinking something's amiss.
Hard lessons learned; but now that we have the fort I will try to get chicks from Whitmore or Sand Hill this spring.

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Good job if you are thinking about Sandhill. They have very good ones I hear. I'll be ordering some along with their New Hampshires and Marraduna Basques. But place your order as soon as you can. It will be a 4 or 5 mo wait if you tarry.

LindaB220 said:

Good job if you are thinking about Sandhill.  They have very good ones I hear.  I'll be ordering some along with their New Hampshires and Marraduna Basques.  But place your order as soon as you can.  It will be a 4 or 5 mo wait if you tarry.  

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I plan on ordering from sandhill, never have before. I want to try their white jersey giants, I think theirs is my best bet for good big ones. Only a couple hatcheries sell the whites. Do you really have to order early? I dont want them untill spring, should I contact them now to make sure I get them?

Thanks for all the info and the tips on Sandhill. I did call Meyer and sent them pics as requested. No reply back yet, so will call them again next week. I did look at the Delaware pics on their website. According to their Delaware hen pic I'm probably out of luck.

Beer can said:

I plan on ordering from sandhill, never have before. I want to try their white jersey giants, I think theirs is my best bet for good big ones. Only a couple hatcheries sell the whites. Do you really have to order early? I dont want them untill spring, should I contact them now to make sure I get them?

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I placed an order in January and they told me it would be April or May. And I cancelled the order. They have a waiting list. The Delaware are some of the most valued birds by the customers. By about March they were sold out until Sept or so. If money were not a concern I would have ordered in Oct for next year.

We are going into our second winter raising chickens. Yesterday (early morning) when I went to the coop our black/grey Bahama was in a ball near the people door. I reached down and picked her up without any struggle. I kept her snuggled close while I finished chores. Put her in the coop to go eat breakfast. Going back to check on her, she was eating very slowly and still huddled up. We got a carry cage and filled with news paper added chicken and water with a few sunflower seeds. She still didn't move much all day. Put the cage in the spare bathroom so we could sleep. On the morning check she was stiff dead. Coop has a multi roost set up with a heat lamp pointed there. Water has a heater under it. I will admit we needed to muck the coop. We never lost even one bird last year in that terrible snow and low temperatures. WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS ALL ABOUT?